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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Agnes' mother take with her after she leaves Agnes behind as a young girl?

2. How is Agnes' journey to the Jonsdottir farm?

3. Where were the murdered victims found?

4. What is the name given to Natan by his mother?

5. Why is Roslin initially concerned about Margret in Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Margret think about the morning after Agnes' arrival?

2. What happens in Agnes' dream? What's one possible translation? (113).

3. How is Reverend Toti's relationship with his father in relation to his time spent with Agnes?

4. How does Agnes feel while working in the field at the Kornsa farm?

5. How does Agnes argue with Reverend Toti about the meaning of 'truth'" (126)?

6. How does Reverend Toti view Agnes upon their first meeting?

7. What does Agnes mean when she says that people did not see her; they see two dead men in a burning farm with a knife?

8. How does Margret express herself to Agnes the first morning?

9. What does Poet-Rosa's poem accuse Agnes of doing?

10. How does the Supreme Court Trials describe the crime?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Reverend Toti's father react to him being a spiritual advisor? Even if he does not specifically reference his son's choice, there are many instances where it is quite obvious that he has a formidable opinion. Do you agree/disagree with his judgment? Why?

Essay Topic 2

The author, Hannah Kent, calls her novel a "dark love letter to Iceland." How does this quote speak to the narrative? While reading, did you believe that this quote spoke to the true nature of the story? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Paraphrase the following quotes and examine what they say about the human condition. What does a person want from life and what is lacking?

(Agnes) "I expected him (Reverend Toti) to understand me from the start. I want him to understand me, but I'm a fool to think we speak the same tongue. I may as well be talking to him with a stone in my mouth, trying to find a language that we both understand" (115).

(Agnes) "Toti wishes to hear about my family, but what I have told him has not been what he wants to hear. He must not be used to gnarled trees that grow in this valley, where the branches rope about one another, studded with thorns" (115).

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